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OPINION

LETTER: We won’t learn from history if we erase it

Published 12:02 a.m. ET May 9, 2018

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A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is removed May 19, 2017, from Lee Circle in New Orleans. The city council voted to remove the monument and three other Confederate and white supremacist monuments in December 2015. Scott Threlkeld / AP A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is removed Friday, May 19, 2017, from Lee Circle in New Orleans. The city council voted to remove the monument and three other Confederate and white supremacist monuments in December 2015.(Photo: Scott Threlkeld, AP)

The debate over removing controversial monuments, statues and imagery is now raging in our nation. We are allowing the voice of a minority or special interest to dictate how our history is remembered.

I can’t think of one nation on earth that has a clean slate in human development from inception to present times. In the past, some African tribal nations enslaved other rival enemies, even practicing cannibalism. Christian soldiers marched in the Crusades slaying infidels in their path. Numerous nations annexed others by force in all corners of the globe and colonized populations through tyranny.

I believe that we have no choice but to own the sins of our ancestors and learn from them, or as the adage foretells, “be doomed to repeat them.” Why has the climate today become so volatile, making representations in the form of art come under attack?

There is bound to be a given group holding specific ideology that gives the battle cry to have these monuments and then the next targeted artworks removed. We’ve seen it with Columbus and heard the rationale. Is it feasible however to evaluate the man who was ahead of his time but also a creature of the day in which he lived with just one set of morals, or one brush? Columbus didn’t invent slavery, but he did conceive of a new world for which we should be eternally grateful.

A man is not a perfect entity and we should not be so limited in our understanding of humanity that we can’t gain knowledge and perspective based on all aspects of one’s individual life. The hauntingly beautiful song, “Amazing Grace” was written by the captain of a slave vessel who found inspiration and redemption. The heartbreaking “Ol’ Man River” reminds us and laments about the early America of Mark Twain, not the future we aspire to. Imagine never hearing the story of those words again, erasing them from our collective conscience and our shared journey.

Once the Columbus opponents are done erasing him from history, they will move on to the next historical figure who does not conform to modern-day sanctions. It is happening in New York, Princeton, New Orleans, Washington D.C., and other locations. Individualized segments of society are pressuring lawmakers and politicians, Sen. Cory Booker and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo among them, to reanalyze generals, discoverers, presidents and other figures from our past.

Fought on the Confederate side, owned slaves, supported annexing Indian territories? “Tear ‘em down!” Wait a minute ... isn’t that the same as burning books? Hitler’s orders to destroy his cache of stolen art when he was defeated? What civilized nation has grown stronger and more purified by banishing intellectual property or artistic valuables? Didn’t we applaud as the Monuments Men gathered the artworks from the salt mines and returned them to their rightful place in culture? Individuals with conflicting social platforms, flawed and above all human, created those masterpieces.

Actually, it is hard to find an example of historical treasure that does not have a veil of clouded controversy surrounding its time and place in mankind’s story. Look at Picasso’s “Guernica” as an example. He painted that masterpiece in response to the time in which he lived and the events in Spain that he felt were destructive to his fellow man at the hands of Fascism. If we didn’t know that and only looked at the finished mural, would we find it offensive or subversive? Would we shout outrage because it was abrasive to our peaceful viewpoints of life on our planet? Without the facts, we cannot pass judgment.

Destroying representations of the past because of our human failures equates to distant observation. Holding that utopian view is like looking at Earth from space and only seeing its peaceful orbit. Come closer and experience all of it; the good and the bad ... the truth. That is exactly why artworks created by the minds and hands of man need to be treasured and kept intact. They serve as a reminder of what can happen if an alternative reality took place.

Art is what elevated us to attain and evolve. Who, visiting the Colosseum in Rome, has not stood there and wondered at its antiquity in awe? If you only viewed it as a site where tens of thousands of Christians were brutalized and slaughtered you would miss its majesty. If the Italian government relented to an opposition group’s cry to tear it down, civilization would bear the loss. Imagine the same debate in Egypt. The Great Pyramids, Wonders of the World, were built by slaves. Should they be dismantled in the name of political correctness?

We need to look at artistic achievements without self-motivation or one-sided principle. The history of civilization throughout the world has been a roller coaster of good vs. evil. We can’t change that, but we can reflect on it and prevent it from recurring. We have to name it, understand it and look it squarely in the eye. How can we do that if it disappears? If we let those who shout the loudest and push the hardest succeed in removing images of those who stood on opposing paths, what have we really learned?

As a former art teacher of 37 years, I would much rather have been able to title this essay “The Art of Creation,” but the outcome remains to be determined, as it was for the many other battles and struggles that came before. If you think of history as a reincarnation, you cannot deny what you were during a lesser life. Look back, be cognizant, gain enlightenment, embrace creativity and then, rise above.